The subject matter described herein relates generally to methods and systems for connecting parts of a wind energy system, and more particularly, to methods and systems for connecting parts of a wind energy system by flanges.
At least some known wind turbines include a tower and a nacelle mounted on the tower. A rotor is rotatably mounted to the nacelle and is coupled to a generator by a shaft. A plurality of blades extends from the rotor. The blades are oriented such that wind passing over the blades turns the rotor and rotates the shaft, thereby driving the generator to generate electricity.
For mounting wind turbines, different parts are connected to each other. For example, the tower of some wind turbines may consist of several parts due to the size of the wind turbine. These connections may be flanges, which allow a reliable connection between such parts.
However, the connections used for wind turbines have to fulfill several requirements regarding strength, stiffness, durability, and stability. These requirements are adapted to security provisions, the location at which the wind turbine is mounted, the wind conditions at the mounting locations, the size of the wind turbine etc.
As the size of wind turbines increases, the size of some of the components of the wind turbine increases, such as the size of the connecting flanges. Sometimes, flanges connect parts of a wind turbine at locations that are especially sensitive to high loads due to changes in geometry, movements and the like. Thus, an adaption of the flange to the increased load conditions is often required, which also results in an adaption of the parts to be connected by the flange. Often, the adjacent parts are adapted to the design and required size of the flange at least at the respective connection sides, thereby requiring a partly new design of the wind turbine.